Found again (HTTYD FF)

★36★

Toothless and Hiccup crept away from the sleeping forms of dragons and Vikings huddled together by a blazing fire.

Hiccup couldn't understand why the humans felt the need to start a fire that had gone out a few dozen minutes after they went to sleep anyway. They didn't need it - they had their dragons, who could provide fire at any moment. And even in the bitterest cold, the nest was comfortably warm. So why the fire?

He preferred to leave it alone - he could deal with the peculiarities of humans later - and instead concentrate on not waking any of the dragons they passed.

Once they were far enough away from the others, they took off, careful not to let a sudden gust of wind wake one of their friends. They flew over the eerily silent nest - only the night dragons were awake now, but they were so few that no one would have noticed their vigilance if they didn't know where to look for the glittering eyes wide open.

"You're here already. Good to see you ready for another mission," the Bewilderbeast greeted them. Hiccup and Toothless bowed and awaited their assignments. "We weren't sure if you'd be able to join us tonight. But since you're here, I'll leave the following mission to you. I would let you rest for a few more days, but unfortunately that option is not available. A couple of Dragon hunters are heading for the nest, coming in from the south. We don't know if they know about us or not, so you need to find out everything you can and send the ship in another direction. You know what to do if you find any dragons there."

Hiccup, instead of answering, just lowered his head, spread his wings, and prepared to take off.

"Good luck," the Bewilderbeast wished them, a sign that they were to be on their way.

Toothless shot into the air next to Hiccup, shouting: "Last one out loses!"

"Hey! That's not fair! Wait!" Hiccup shot into the air behind him, not caring that they had just woken up all the dragons nearby. With a few strong flaps of his wings, he caught up to Toothless just before the tunnel leading outside. He flew past him and held the lead for a few seconds before Toothless accelerated, whizzing over Hiccup's head and disappearing outside.

"Come on, we need to be back by morning!" Toothless called from somewhere in the dark, star-studded sky.

Hiccup sped up, following Toothless' scent trail heading up into the sky to the south.

Toothless was right. Now that their friends were in the nest, they would have to go back and try and get some sleep before morning. People didn't sleep during the day - Hiccup had never heard of one.

They flew for only a moment, side by side, before the nest disappeared over the horizon and a dark patch appeared on the black ocean before them - darker than the snowy chunks of ice jutting above the surface.

"The usual?"

"The usual."

They descended a little lower, but still far enough away from the ship, out of reach of human eyes, cloaked in the night sky.

Even from a distance, the scent of frightened dragons was faintly noticeable. Hunters, no doubt. There was always a heavy atmosphere of fear around their ships, the metallic aftertaste of salty blood almost indistinguishable from the actual smell of the hordes of weapons.

Hiccup leaned to the side and gradually began to move away from Toothless, who was doing the same. They completely separated when they were right above the ocean's surface, each heading for a different side of the ship. Toothless usually attacked the bow, while Hiccup came from the stern. The Hunters, if they even found out they were there, would have to split their forces in half.